ALBUM: High Hopes – Sights & Sounds

With the UK’s recent groundswell of melodic hardcore continuing to blossom year on year, the pool of talent continues to occasionally throw up young bands with that freshness and hint of star quality to really trade blows at the top. High Hopes are one such outfit; their familiar yet savage formula swiftly seeing them plucked from the underground, snapped up by the international muscle of Victory Records and building on their metallic/melody foundation with sophomore LP, ‘Sights & Sounds’.

It’s easy to see how the Reading quintet have impressed so, their sound pitched between pedal to the floor aggression and the sort of instrumental eloquence usually reserved for the Misery Signals/Shai Hulud playbook. Couple this with a pristine production job from mixing-desk dynamo Ste McKay, and the likes of ‘The Greater Plan’ and ‘Revelation’ take on an sonic impact that is both emotionally rich and still in keeping with that floor punch, basement show aesthetic.

Indeed, there is a tangible whiff of maturity and ambition that somewhat separates High Hopes from many of their peers. Balancing pit ready anthems and big, caustic right hooks with that delicate light through the darkness approach nods towards yet more songwriting growth to come, and, on the evidence of ‘Sights & Sounds’, that is a deliciously mouth-watering prospect. For now though, this is a record that is set to resonate with a legion of new fans.